Administrative divisions of Finland
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As of 1 January 2005, Finland is divided into:
- 6 provinces (Finnish lääni, Swedish län)
- the provinces are divided into 20 regions (Finnish maakunta, Swedish landskap)
- the regions are divided into 74 sub-regions (Finnish seutukunta, Swedish ekonomisk region)
- the sub-regions are divided into 432 municipalities (Finnish kunta, Swedish kommun).
There are also historical provinces of Finland (Finnish: maakunnat – singular maakunta), Swedish: landskap).
There are also 90 state local districts (Finnish kihlakunta, Swedish härad), which serve as the official local administrative units of the state, coordinating tasks such as police and justice services, distraint, notary public services, and registry of population, societies and companies. These are officially subdivisions of provinces. Only provinces and local districts are formally administrative units of the Finnish state.
It should be noted though that much decision-making in Finland is done at either the municipal or the state level. The 'intermediate' levels do have certain powers, but popular representation at these levels of government is extremely limited. Since 2005, however, there is an experimental, directly elected regional council serving in the region of Kainuu, and this model might be taken into use in other regions as well should it be found successful.
